"Didn't I delete this?"

With a frustrated groan, she dragged the red and black app to the trash can. Only for it to pop back up three seconds later.

She tried it again and garnered the same result. Then she turned her phone off and booted it back up.

Still there.

She groaned and slammed her phone down next to her seat. She'd have to take it to an electronic store or maybe get a new phone if this kept happening.

She decided not to worry about it right now. It didn't seem to be doing anything to her phone itself, so it likely wasn't a virus or any other such negative things.

"I should just focus on getting some mementos for Adrien, Marinette, & Mother," she decided as Tatsu drove away from her.

"Candidate Found. Beginning Navigation."

"So… how far down do you think Ms. Tsurugi is?" Beat asked as the Monabus revved through the catacomb-esque subways.

"Not picking anything up yet," Oracle reported, "she might be in the new area we unlocked a while ago. We haven't had a chance to explore down there yet, right?"

"No, we haven't," Joker nodded, "and from how deep we've already gone, that might be the case…"

"Should we be expecting any unusually freaky Shadows to pop up and ambush us when we get there?" Jack asked.

"Unless we run into the Reaper, it shouldn't be too different," Mona replied.

After a while, the group reached the new area. They'd just made it to the fourth area when Viper suddenly cried, "Stop the bus!"

The Monabus came to a screeching halt, skidding roughly across the tracks, nearly flipping over and throwing most of the Thieves forward a bit before at last coming to a stop.

"What was that for?" Skull gasped once everyone had recovered. Viper only pointed outside the left of the window, face painted with worry.

The sound of light steel clashing with other things greeted the Phantom Thieves' ears before they laid their eyes on…

"Oh, shit!" Skull exclaimed in horror as they spotted an untransformed Shadow smashing the ground where Kagami had just been. She was obviously struggling, despite having her foil in hand.

The two clashed, and after a few tense seconds, her foil snapped in half.

Kagami barely had time to register what happened before instinctively diving out of the way of the Shadow's next blow and scrambling to her feet. Recognizing she could not win, she took off…

...running smack dab into the Monabus with a painful-sounding BUMP .

Seeing that the Shadow was now charging towards them, Chance quickly opened one of Mona's doors and snatched the stunned Kagami by the collar, pulling her inside.

"DRIVE!" she screamed.

Joker didn't need a second prompting. He slammed down on the gas and sped off with a yowl from Mona.

Streaking around the corner, the team found a small rest stop where they'd be safe for a bit. The Shadow seemed to have lost interest in the group about halfway through the chase.

Everyone inside took a moment to catch their breath, their hearts racing in their ears. Nobody was too eager to exit the Monabus, but eventually, they filed out, letting a shakily-breathing Kagami out first.

"Who are you?" was the first thing out of her mouth once they'd all exited the Monabus, "and where are we?"

"Calm down, Kagami, it's me!" Chance cried out reassuringly, removing her mask.

"...Marinette?" Kagami gawked for a second, before taking a good look at the rest of them. "And you're all her friends from Tokyo! It is good to see you as well, Luka, Nino & Alix… interesting clothes you're all wearing."

"Oh thanks… no, wait, what the hell are you doing here? How'd you get here?" Jack exclaimed.

"Weren't you and Marinette literally out getting some juice or something recently?" Beat asked.

"Not the point right now, Beat!" Mona admonished, having transformed back into his… more normal form.

"A black cat…" Kagami said, her attention now transfixed on Mona, "Are you that kitty who helped me during the last mass attack?!"

Mona went about as white as a black cat could.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" he stuttered out, sweating bullets.

"If that's the case, then the rest of you…" Kagami said, looking around at the rest of them, "Well, Luka makes sense, now that I think about it."

"Kwami save me now…" Chance groaned into her hands, before she popped up, "Wait, what do you mean Luka makes sense?"
"You're all the other heroes, are you not?" Kagami inquired, then glanced at Morgana, "Well, except for Chat Noir… unless that's Kitty here."

"Um… no," Mona shook his head, "Different black cat, I'm afraid. My name is Mona."

"...Well, there's no point in denying it now, I guess," Skull admitted, "All right, you got us. Keep it secret, yeah?"

"Of course!" Kagami said seriously, "Mar-"

"Chance," Chance corrected, "Right now, I'm Chance, and these guys have aliases too."

Everyone quickly introduced themselves, and Kagami found herself nodding along.

"She's taking this rather well…" Queen observed.

"When you live in a city where magical moths can turn you into supervillains, not much surprises you anymore," Kagami simply replied.

"...I fuck with you on that," Oracle said bluntly.

Kagami decided to ignore the vulgar phrasing; looking around, she asked, "Where are we now?"

"...Boy, it must have been easier to explain this to us," Jack pointed out, "We all awakened outside of everyone's Palace, so you could just say we were 'in so-and-so's heart.'"

"We're in another reality right now," Viper explained plainly, "One that was created from the public's cognition."

"Cognition? Palace? People's… hearts?" Kagami said, pondering this info, then her eyes widened "Hearts…! Don't tell me you're…"

"Yep. On the nose!" Panther confirmed.

Kagami took a second to process this before speaking. She looked a little overwhelmed.

"It's sort of hard to believe… Chance is one of the nicest people I know, and even if the Phantom Thieves are good people, it's hard to connect Chance and the Phantom Thieves of Hearts like I can connect her & Ladybug."

"I honestly got dragged into all of this by accident," Chance said honestly, rubbing her arm awkwardly, "but… I'm really glad I was. I met these guys, who helped me in ways I'll forever be grateful to them for."

"Chance…" Joker said, "Anyway, we should get you back. It's dangerous for you to be here."

"Before you do…" Kagami asked, "I assume this is how you change hearts. Who are you going for now? I haven't heard about any calling cards as of recent…"
"We don't always need 'em," Skull explained, "our current target is… oh, 'eff me."

The group - minus Kagami - cringed.

"...We were looking into your mom when we found you," Chance admitted, looking a little guilty.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Kagami recovered and said, "...Change of plans, then. I am coming with you." Some of the Phantom Thieves looked like they wanted to protest, but one look at her face made It obvious that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"...Fine," Mona said, remembering Chance telling them how stubborn the fencer was when her mind was made up, "but keep your distance. You're not equipped to fight the same way we are right now, especially with your foil broken."

"Are you serious?!" Jack gasped as Mona transformed back into his bus form.

"She's obviously not going to take no for an answer," Panther pointed out, "Plus, she kind of had to have come in here somehow… if she got in here on her own..."

"Oh crud, the app!" Beat groaned, face-palming.

"An app brought me here?" Kagami said, raising an eyebrow, "...That explains a lot."

"You have it, don't you?" Viper asked as they all piled back into the car.

"If you're referring to a red and black app that refuses to stay in the trash bin and looks like it belongs to a cult of some sort, then yes," Kagami answered as Mona started driving down the tracks once again.

"Now that you mention it, it does sort of have a religious undertone," Fox realized, "A single eye tends to have that effect, like in the Illuminati."

"While that sounds like an enlightening topic of discussion," Queen caught their attention, pointing ahead of them at the red and black vortex, "we're here."

Only Marinette noticed Kagami tense just as they dove into the vortex. She squeezed her friend's arm in reassurance as they landed on the other side.

Mona popped back into his thief form as the Phantom Thieves gazed at the Shadow standing a ways off. Just like her real self, Tomoe was wearing a white shirt, red pants, and had a large bokken in her hands. Though a pair of pitch-black glasses obscured her eyes, should she have removed them, golden yellow eyes would have greeted the group like any other Shadow.

"...That's Mother?" Kagami whispered.

"Not exactly," Queen said, "It is her, but not her at the same time."

"...I don't understand," the fencer admitted.

"This is your mother as she sees herself, if that makes any sense," Fox attempted.

"Sort of like… her dark side, I guess?" Chance added. Man, Jack was right. It was easier explaining this in an actual Palace.

Kagami still looked fairly confused but was now eyeing the figure a little more warily.

"Just stay back, and we'll handle this," Viper said as the Phantom Thieves cautiously approached the Shadow.

Once they got within a couple yards of the Shadow, she whipped out her bokken, holding it out at the ready. "Halt! Who goes there?" she snarled.

Chance tensed. Yep, this was definitely Ms. Tsurugi. It seemed her Shadow was blind too. She wasn't sure whether this would be an advantage to the team or not.

"Tomoe Tsurugi?" Joker said, "We've come to change your heart."

Shadow Tomoe scoffed, "Oh, have you, now? I don't see why you feel the need to target me. I'm an honorable member of society, both in Paris and Japan!"

"Even so, you have a distorted heart," Fox said coolly, "and it is our job to fix that. Though you say Paris & Japan… are you not as honorable in some other place?"

"I don't like what you are implying, young man," she hissed, "Do you think I would waste my time among filthy money-grubbers and deceitful snakes?"

"Well, someone asked us to change your heart," Panther pointed out, "They had to have had a reason for doing this, you know?"

"There are many who do not understand the importance of virtue…" Shadow Tomoe sneered, "I suppose we're not going to settle things with mere conversation, are we?"

"What, do you want to fight us?" Jack said tauntingly.

"Please don't…" Kagami mumbled from the back.

"Kagami?!" Shadow Tomoe gasped softly, "Don't tell me you're with these ruffians! Did you put them up to this?"

Silence befell the room.

Kagami looked mortified and ashamed.

"I… just wanted to help," she mumbled, "I thought they could help."

Chance gasped. So Kagami had been the one who wrote that post. But why? And help her with what?

"I don't need your help, Kagami! Not yours! Not anyone's!" the Shadow screamed.

"Help with what?" Queen exclaimed.

The Shadow ignored the question and continued to glare at her daughter.

"Is this about what we discussed last week? Are you really that selfish that you would compromise an opportunity like this for mundane matters?"

"My friends aren't mundane!" Kagami shouted back.

Shadow Tomoe's look turned murderous, causing Kagami to flinch. "I see… that is how it's going to be, then," she said draconically as she was enveloped in dark energy, "Prepare for punishment!"

"Get back!" Fox exclaimed as the Shadow burst into its new form. Clearly female, the lithe figure of the Polearm-Wielding Woman had her hair held back with a bandana. A naginata was clenched in her hand, which she twirled experimentally before assuming a battle form.

"Friendship? Trust? Don't make me laugh! Such things are ultimately trivial!" the Polearm-Wielding Woman sneered. Fearfully, Kagami took a few steps back as the Phantom Thieves rushed to her defense.

"That's a lie!" Skull retaliated, "Without friends, you won't get anywhere, and even if you could get by without 'em, it would be way harder!"

"Friends are simply people that use you! Once you're no longer of use to them, you'll be discarded! People are only your friends when you have something to offer them!"

"Then you had a bad friend…" Kagami snarled, "Even then, that doesn't give you the right to label others because one didn't turn out!"

"Yeah! One bad apple doesn't mean the whole batch is ruined!" Oracle shouted.

"We're sorry if someone did this to you, but your daughter's right!" Viper said, "We're her friends! We're not using her for anything!"

With a near-feral snarl, the Polearm-Wielding Woman vaulted over the wall of Phantom Thieves and landed right on Kagami, pinning her to the ground.

"What do I have to say to get you to understand?" the Shadow scowled.

" What do I have to say to get you to understand ?" Kagami cried out, struggling against her mother's Shadow Self, "Actually… I don't think it matters anymore - I'm not going to listen to you while you're like this!"

Are you going to let it all end here?

"A-agh!" Kagami suddenly shrieked, her harried struggle increasing tenfold and knocking the Polearm-Wielding Woman off of her. Getting up quickly, she and the Phantom Thieves watched as Kagami wrestled with her hurting head.

For many a time, you have claimed you don't hesitate… so why do you hold back against the one who has done you more wrong than any other?

"Is she…" Jack breathed out. Joker was sporting his usual giant grin, which indicated it was likely so.

We will form a contract now. I am thou, thou art I…

Slowly, unsteadily, Kagami began rising to her feet. The team looked at the scarlet dragon mask that appeared on her face, causing Skull to wolf-whistle.

We shall charge forward, with or without her - the evils that plague this world will learn to fear our righteous fury!

"Excellent…" Kagami said shakily, gripping her mask. Fluidly, she ripped it off with a cringe-inducing crack . As expected by almost all, a blue inferno burst from the ground around her. In the chaos, nobody noticed the Polearm-Wielding Women sneaking away.

The Persona that formed from the flames was a woman with a blue and white battle dress and armor, the fabric seeming to be continuously flowing like water on its own. Around her neck were two long necklaces with a single jewel hanging from each of them. A bow was slung over her shoulder and a tachi sword clipped to her side.

Kagami herself was wearing a dark long-sleeved shirt with a white collar and a red tie, along with a red belt that had a red side skirt cover over a black, pleated skirt with black leggings underneath and black shoes. On her arms were red gauntlets and plain black gloves. On her back was a tsurugi sword, which she immediately drew.

"Whoa, and here I thought Queen was a badass!" Oracle exclaimed with a giant smirk.

"Let's admire her after we take care of these guys!" Jack shouted as two large Shadows emerged around the corner. It seemed all of the commotion attracted them.

"Mazionga!" Kagami shouted before the Shadows even had a chance to transform. With shrieks of pain, they exploded into energy and faded back into oblivion.

"Jeez!" Skull gasped, looking back at the fencer to see the Persona returning its tachi to its sheath.

"Much appreciated, Jingū Kōgō," she said softly as the dragon mask returned to her face. She turned to the rest of the Phantom Thieves, "She couldn't have gotten far, we can still catch her-"

"Hold it," Joker said, snagging Kagami's arm before she could charge down the hall, "We're not going anywhere. Not until you tell us what's really going on."

Kagami scowled, "You heard what she said. Shouldn't that be reason enough?"

"No, Kagami, Joker's right," Chance said, "Yes, now we know you're the one that put that post up on the Phan-Site , but we still don't know why!"

"We can't make a proper decision to go after your mom or not unless we have the full story," Panther explained.

"That is why we came after her in the first place, to try and get answers," Fox explained, "and it seems you're the one that has them, Tsurugi-san."

"Yeah, like what was your mom talking about dud-I mean, Kagami?" Beat asked, "Something about an opportunity?"

Kagami was stubbornly silent, looking down at the ground. Chance recognized that expression. It was the same one Kagami had after she told her as Ladybug that she couldn't use the Dragon Miraculous again (but that had certainly changed, hadn't it?).

"Please, Kagami, help us understand so we can help you," Chance begged as she came closer. Upon getting a better look at her friend though, Marinette saw that her lip was trembling. Only just slightly, but it still was.

Chance realized with a gasp what was wrong. Kagami didn't know you couldn't get akumatized here. And if what her mom was talking about was really that painful that she couldn't risk talking about it without a magic butterfly swooping in to turn you into a monster, it must be something bad.

It was only another painful reminder of how Hawkmoth's reign of terror was really affecting Paris as a whole. It wasn't healthy to keep emotions in like this all the time. Eventually, it would all come spilling out, and likely not without some nasty consequences.

Chance her hands on Kagami's shoulders, "It's okay, Kagami. Hawkmoth can't get us in here. You can cry and scream as much as you need to. He's not going to target you."

These words seemed to the final straw as the next second, Kagami latched onto Chance, burying her face in her shoulder. Chance stumbled from the force of it before steadying herself.

What Chance certainly wasn't ready for was the loud wail that exited Kagami's mouth as she held Chance like her life depended on it.

Okay, it was clear that something else was going on. She had never seen Kagami like this, even when she was in one of her moods. She was normally so composed and calm. Seeing her breaking down like this was… scary.

Chance awkwardly returned the hug, patting Kagami gently on the back.

"We… we should get to a safer location," Queen decided, "Something tells me this conversation will take a while."

"Yeah, you're right, Queen," Mona nodded, before transforming back into bus form.

"There's a rest stop not too far from here," Oracle reported.

"Let's get there. Fast," Viper said urgently as he helped Chance and Kagami into the car. The fencer whined when she felt them move, but Chance held her tighter, showing that she wasn't going to let go. Eventually, they managed to maneuver Kagami to sit on Chance's lap as Mona sped off and out of the distortion pocket. It wouldn't be going anywhere, so they could find it again.

Kagami didn't stop sobbing until they arrived.

AN: So a little background. Jingū Kōgō was a Japanese Empress-regent that ruled Japane around 200 A.D. She helped to lead an invasion of the Korean Penisula and was said to have had the ability to control the tides through two magic jewels that she possessed. Considering Kagami's connection with the Dragon Miraculous and it's power over water, wind, and lightning, it seems like a fitting Persona along with her electric attack skills.

Her outfit is loosely based off of Akame's outfit from Akame ga Kill. A headcanon of mine is that Kagami's a closet anime nerd, so she has her rebel outfit based off of some anime anti-heroes.

Now... what exactly was Tomoe talking about? Whatever it is, Kagami is taking it pretty hard. Hard enough to have a breakdown. I guess we'll find out what's going on next time.

R&R and see you next time!